I've Done It Again

I've abandoned you all for two and a half months. Again. I'm sad to say that my Disney College Program has come to an end, but on the bright side, that means I have more time to sit in front of my computer screen and type until my heart is content! I'm not going to be able to catch up these last two months in one blog post, so I plan to periodically reflect back on the DCP and share my adventures with you all. Although I last left off on November 6th, a week before I left for New York (exciting!!), I am instead going to quickly share with you my reflection on my program. This is the same reflection that I posted on my main blog, so my apologies for being repetitive. Now, with that said...

The Disney College Program was the greatest experience of my life and I absolutely do not, in any way, regret picking up and moving to Florida for a semester. 

It doesn't get any simpler than that. I spent every waking moment surrounded by my coworkers. To some of you reading this, you may think that sounds like a nightmare, but I assure you that it wasn't! It didn't take long at all for those people I worked with to become my family. When we were working at Pinocchio's Village Haus (PVH), would go out for dinner after work, or spend our days off in the parks together, I was having the time of my life. Heck, we even got together and had thanksgiving dinner on the apartment floor (once we all got off work, of course...)! We went out at night all the time, traveled to New York, and spent every bit of money we made at Disney - together. 

I cannot tell you how hard it is to go from that, to nothing. No PVH. No Disney Parks. No Universal Studios. No beaches. No clubs. No one.

Though the BYU campus is crowded and bustling with chatting students, there are moments when everything is quiet, everything is calm. And I am alone. In those moments, I think about the Magic Kingdom filled to capacity at almost 100,000 people. I think about working 14 hour shifts during the holiday season. I think about the music pounding in my ears at House of Blues. I think about the fireworks going off every night like clockwork.

And all too soon, I am pulled back down to earth as my phone notifies me that I have an essay due tomorrow and two exams next week. Right now, this is my reality.

But one day, I will go back.

Hello Internet!

It's been a while, hasn't it? With a friendly push in the blogging direction from my best friend back home, I have decided that it is due time for another update from the wonderful world of the Disney College Program. With it being a month and a half since I last blogged, I will skip over the monotonous day-to-day items (wake up, work, hang out with friends, sleep) and detail the only-in-Orlando events that I have experienced!

Life In Color  This is a giant outdoor paint party that features a few DJs, and is in downtown Orlando. I went with a few friends from work, it was ridiculously expensive, but was definitely worth it! It had a huge party atmosphere and was so much fun. Even after six hours of dancing, paint covering every inch of the crowd, and lost voices from screaming, I wasn't ready to leave! Luckily there is another Life In Color in Miami at the end of December that we're all considering going to. And even better, this one is 11 hours long! Fingers crossed that this actually happens!

Halloween Horror Nights Me being afraid of every little thing that involves blood, gore, or things popping out at you, I was set on not attending this event at Universal Studios in Orlando. However, a bunch of people from work were going and they finally convinced me to pay $40 to get the living daylights scared out of me. Luckily it was still daylight when we got there, so I was confident and ready to go! However, the sun soon started setting, and the walkers came out. What's a walker, you may ask? Well let me enlighten you! Everyone is casually strolling about Universal when a white van pulls up in the middle of the street. Out of the back comes a man with an AK-47, which he pounds on the side of the vehicle. Suddenly the lights come on, and you see that the van is full of people. No wait, those aren't people. The back doors fly open and zombies come pouring out and begin chasing innocent victims through the streets. Those are walkers. I nearly peed my pants. But anyway! The main part of Halloween Horror Nights are the eight haunted houses that they have around the park. We had time to go into six of them. As the night drew on and my tiredness set in, I got more and more scared, but was surprised to notice that I wasn't as scared at the beginning. Despite this, I was still anxious to get out as soon as possible as to avoid the walkers, but all in all, it was a great night!

Mickey's Not-So-Scary This Halloween Party was a nice change of pace from the one at Universal Studios, and is held every year in Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom. Normally a firework and castle show, Wishes, occurs every night in this park. During the party, however, we got to see Hallo-Wishes! It was so cool to see them project different images onto the castle, in sync with the music, fireworks, and narration as well. Brilliant! Then my roommates and I patrolled around the Magic Kingdom looking to collect as much candy as possible. I think it was a successful night seeing as I nearly filled up my entire backpack! At the end of the party, we saw the Halloween parade. There was waltzing zombies, scary floats, and the Disney Villains came out to play! Loved it!



Epcot International Food & Wine Festival I have been to this event twice now, held in Walt Disney World's Epcot park. The world showcase normally features stores, attractions, and food from different countries around the world. But for just over a month, additional stands are set up in each of these countries, offering specialty food and drinks specific to those locations. And to finish of your night right, you can watch the fireworks show at Epcot, Illuminations! For future reference, the best spot to watch it from is in Mexico!

Disney's VoluntEARS Disney helps to set up a variety of service projects, which I think is so awesome! A group of us from work recently had the opportunity to go and volunteer at a dog shelter. It was a very small facility that housed dogs that were abandoned and/or injured. Each person was given a dog to go on a walk with. There was about twenty dogs, and it is hard for every single one of them to get in the exercise they need, so they rely on volunteers like us. Most of the people went off with their dogs to play together, but the dog I was given, Sicily, had only just arrived in the shelter. You could tell she looked so sad and scared, I couldn't believe someone would just abandon her like that. After only a half hour walking in a secluded area away from the other dogs, Sicily began to warm up fast to me - even the manager at the shelter noticed! I just wanted to take her home, she was so cute!

 The Wizarding World of Harry Potter This park is located in Universal Studio's Island of Adventure. Let's just make it clear that I am one of the biggest Harry Potter fans, and it has been my dream to visit this place since its construction was announced. Never have I though that I would actually have the opportunity to visit this place, and can I just say it was amazing! Universal quickly became my favorite theme park in the world. (Yes, more so than Disney World). When I walked through the first archway into Hogsmead, I could feel the tears welling in my eyes. Pathetic, I know. Good thing I was wearing sunglasses! If you go, be sure to try the frozen butterbeer - it is to die for! And all the rides are so good! Dueling dragons is definitely for adrenaline junkies like myself, so I absolutely loved it! But the Forbidden Journey is the first one you have to ride when you go - they did such a great job with the visual and physical effects! And luckily, I purchased an annual pass, so I can visit this place as much as my little heart desires until October of 2014!

Universal Studios How could I not go ahead and explore Universal Studios after visiting Harry Potter World?! When I went to Halloween Horror Nights, I wasn't able to ride the attractions here, so I thought I would take advantage of this opportunity. And oh my god! The rides are SO much better than Disney World, just saying! The roller coasters are bigger, faster, and scarier, and that's all I could ask for! I mean, the Rocket went straight up. Straight up! And the Hulk was the craziest roller coaster I have been on in my life! Universal did not fail to impress, and I will return very soon with my annual pass!



So that about sums it up. It's safe to say that my life has pretty much been made - it's crazy that so many of my lifelong dreams have been coming true since I started my college program, and it's stuff that I had accepted would never happen. But look at me! Disney World, Universal Studios, Harry Potter World, a real college experience! And not to mention next Friday I leave for New York! It is all seriously a dream come true and I don't think I've ever been as happy as I am right now. I love my job, I love my friends, and I love my life!



What Week Is It?

Holy cow, it's already been two and a half weeks since my last post?! Each day is blurring together, I hardly ever know what day of the week it is. Every day is wake up, take a bus to work, work, take a bus home, hang out with friends, sleep (optional), and repeat. Every. Day. But don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining at all - this is the life! I love work, I love my friends, and I love being here at Walt Disney World! I'm getting the opportunity to experience things that I couldn't do back home or at BYU. I can't complain!

Let's see, what's happened since my last post...

Oh! I bought a plane ticket to New York City in November! You can read more about this on my main blog HERE. I got my first new phone in years, and it just so happens to be my first ever smart phone - the iPhone 5. I went to a paint party with a bunch of friends from work, which was crazy awesome! I finally went off Disney property and took a visit to the mall, spending way more money than I should have. My Disney University class started last week! I'm taking Corporate Communications every Wednesday from 8:30am - 12:30 pm. I think I'm going to make a separate post going into detail about this course once I've gone to another class or two. I think that about sums it up. I know, it's not the most interesting blog post, but I promise that my life right now is a billion times more exciting than I'm making it sound! I can't believe September is almost over, where has the time gone?!

So far today, I woke up, took a bus to work, worked, then took a bus home. You know what that means?? Time to go hang out with friends!

Weeks 3 & 4

I've heard quite often that DCP bloggers usually stop posting after the first couple weeks of their program. That won't happen to me, I told myself. That is, until I had to work nine days in a row and on my days off, usually don't get home until o-dark-thirty in the morning. So now that I am lucky enough to have a day off and be at home with nothing to do, I figured that I'd do a bit of catching up. I don't remember every single day in detail, but I will try to cover as much as possible!

Last Tuesday, I finished my training and passed my assessment, so I "earned my ears"! I was so nervous to get into work the next day, because I wouldn't have anyone talking me through how to do everything. But I was worried for nothing, because it went great! Starting with this last day of training, I had nine days of work in a row. Holy cow! A couple of my roommates came to surprise me with a visit to Pinocchio's Village Sunday night as we were closing in the kitchen, and snapped a shot of me and a few co-workers! Another day, my co-worker CJ and I went to Wawa, which is apparently a popular gas station/convenience store on the east coast. It was great because we got slurpees at like 10am before our shift that day!

Finally, my nine day working streak was up! To celebrate, a big group of us from Pinocchio's went out to breakfast yesterday, and then hit up Blizzard Beach, which is one of the water parks in Walt Disney World. It was a ton of fun, and we all went off of Summit Plummet, a 125' vertical drop - it was awesome! Once we got home and showered, we headed to CJ's apartment to have dinner and play Cards Against Humanity. This game is pretty much the inappropriate, politically incorrect version of Apples to Apples, and it was hilarious! Today, we're all hanging out again! We're probably going someplace called the Fun Zone to go go-carting or play laser tag - either way, I'm stoked! I just hope that I can get over this cold that had just set in by tonight. Time for some throat spray, herbal tea, and pain killers - that should do the trick!

Also, last week I finished a huge project that benefits Stop CAID Now, an organization that helps children with rare autoinflammatory diseases. Click HERE to view the video!

Week 2: Hollywood Studios, Epcot & Training

Hollywood Studios on Monday!

It has been a full 40 hour work week for me, which is why I haven't blogged since Monday, but here is a recap for you all! So in the Pinocchio Village kitchen, there are several different stations that you can be assigned to throughout any given day. My training this week mostly involved learning how to work at each of these stations, which includes making salads, meatball subs, prepping pizzas, cooking pizzas, dish washing, cooking macaroni and sauces, and assembling orders. Each task is pretty simple, but having to learn all the different tasks is the hard part. Tuesday and Wednesday were my first two days of training in the kitchen - the people I work with are super friendly and entertaining, so I am thoroughly enjoying it so far! During training, we also get to try out most of the items on the menu. So far, I am a big fan of the macaroni and cheese and the mango gelato. Yummy!



Ashley and I at Club Cool in Epcot.

Yesterday I had the day off, so a group of us hit up Epcot. I rode Test Track twice, and it was amazing! I think it's my favorite attraction so far. We also went on Soarin' Over California, which was a lot more fun than I initially imagined - it is now in my top three, along side Space Mountain! Afterwards, we headed over to Germany (for those of you who don't know, Epcot is filled with tons of different areas that are based off of certain countries) and had a bite to eat in the Biergarten all-you-can-eat buffet! I had never had German food before, so I was a bit anxious about what I was getting myself into, but it was delicious! There was loads of meat and potatoes, and the desert was fantastic. Not to mention, a traditional German band played music as we ate! Once stuffed to our eating capacities, we headed out to complete Agent P's World Showcase Adventure. Basically, your group gets a cell phone that gives you clues as to where to go to complete certain tasks, all in an effort to save the world. And the entire game is based on Phineas and Ferb. Ideally, you go through each country, but it took us forever just to get through the UK, so we stopped after that and headed to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner. We then squeezed in a late night Walmart run before heading home, which was so much fun in and of itself. I have to say, this was probably the most entertaining night I've had here thus far!


Today was my first non-training shift, which is odd considering I haven't finished my training yet... But it went well! I spent four hours mixing different kinds of cheese for the pizzas, then another three hours washing dishes. Yay (imagine me saying this feebly, with a dash of sarcasm). And right now, I'm ditching a pool party to stay here and blog in my comfy bed, because I am too tired to move even an inch. Tomorrow (Saturday) is day three of training, then I have Sunday and Monday off. Whoo hoo!!

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